Toy power shovel



April 17, 1934. R. M. GAVER 1,955,457

TOY POWER SHOVEL Filed Oct. 6, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet l BY W A'I TORNEY A ril 17, 1934. R. M. GAVER 1,955,457

TOY POWER SHOVEL Filed Oct. 6, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENT R lg Qri W W??? BY M W ATTORNEY Aprifi 17, 1934. R. M. GAVER- TOY POWER SHOVEL Filed Oct. 6, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN NTOR M W M ATTORNEY Fatentcd Apr. 17, I934 UiTD SATES PATENT OFFICE 8 Claims.

This invention relates to a mechanical toy in the form of a simulation of a power or steam shovel such as shown and described in my copending application Serial No. 633,403.

' In the toy shovel described in my said application all of the action in picking up, elevating and dumping a load can be effected by the simple oscillation of two levers, one to be actuated by each hand of the child, whereby the operation of the toy is so simple and easy that even a very young child may operate the toy without difiiculty and yet operation of the toy requires the undivided attention of the child in coordinating the operation of the two levers so as to exercise the power of concentration and orderly thought and action.

The shovel also includes a boom on which is slidably mounted what is called a bucket-stick or digger-stick which has a bucket or scoop at one end and is actuated by cables connected to said two levers.

One object of the present invention is to provide a toy power shovel of the character described which shall include novel and improved means for operatively connecting the digger stick to said two levers, whereby the structure and operation shall be simple and positive and the toy shall be inexpensive and durable.

Another object is to provide such a toy power shovel wherein the sliding or crowding movement of the digger stick in both directions, shall be under full control of the operator and effected by oscillation of one of said levers in oppositive directions, and pivotal movement to raise and lower the digger stick shall be controlled by the other lever, the lowering being under influence of gravity.

Other objects are to provide a toy power shovel of this character which shall embody a novel 0 and improved combination and arrangement of said levers and cables connecting said levers to the digger stick, which shall be simple and inexpensive; and to obtain other advantages and 4 results as will be brought out by the following de- 5 scription.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which corresponding and like parts are designated by the same reference characters through- 59 out the several views,

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view partially in side elevation of a toy power shovel embodying my invention, showing the scoop and digger stick in the position assumed preparatory to starting digging operations.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the toy showing the beginning of the digging operation.

Figure 3 is a similar view showing the cam of the toy swung into a position at 90 degrees to that illustrated in Figure 2, with the scoop par- 60. tially elevated.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the toy with the handle ends of the lever shown in cross section.

Figure 5 is a transverse vertical sectional view 65. on the line 55 of Figure 2, and

Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 6-6 of Figure 2.

Specifically describing the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the toy includes a body having a hollow cab-like portion 1 mounted to rotate on a turn-table 2 upon a wheeled base 3. This body may be made of light sheet metal shaped up and secured together in any suitable manner.

A boom i is connected at one end as at 5 to one end of the cab l and projects upwardly and outwardly from the cab. The upper end of the boom is supported on the cab by a brace 6. This boom is preferably formed of a single piece of so sheet metal bent into a substantially channel shape, and the base portion 7 of the channel has a slot or opening 8 through which slides a digger stick 9 at one end of which is rigidly connected a bucket or scoop 10. 5

The digger stick 9 is also preferably formed of sheet metal and channel shaped in cross section, and has aligned longitudinal slots 11 in the arms of the channel through which pass a pin 12 which is mounted on the boom 4 transversely thereof and intermediate the ends of the boom. With this construction, the digger stick is arranged between the arms of the channel shaped boom and is both longitudinally slidable and pivotally movable relative to the boom. Also, preferably the channel of the digger stick faces toward the cab, as clearly shown in Figure 1.

At the outer end of the boom 4 is journaled a pulley 13 above the digger stick and the scoop, and over this pulley passes a cable or flexible connector 14 one end of which is connected to the digger stick adjacent the scoop as at 15 while the other end passes around an idler pulley 16 journaled on a shaft 17 adjacent the bottom of the body portion and then around another idler pulley 18 journaled on the shaft 19 adjacent the top of the body portion or cab 1, said end of the cable then being connected to one end of a lever 20 which is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends at 21 on the top of the cab and extends 1 10 connected to said lever.

through a slot 200 in the top of the cab with the other end projecting upwardly above the cab. Prefeably the axes of the pulleys 16 and 18 are at the side of the axis 21 of the lever opposite the digger stick and the axis of the lever is preferably at right angles to the plane of movement of the digger stick. With this construction, it will be observed that the digger stick can be swung upwardly about its pivot 12 to swing the scoop 10 to elevated positions by a pull on the outer end of the lever toward the operator, while the digger stick and scoop may be lowered under the influence of gravity by release of the lever.

For longitudinally sliding the digger stick on the boom I have provided a second lever 22 which is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends at 23 on the top of the cab and has one end extending into the cab through a slot 24. The end or" the lever within the cab is connected to both ends of the digger stick by means of a flexible connection which in the present instance is shown as comprising two cables 24 and 25. The cable 24 has one end connected to the upper end of the digger stick at 24:0 and passes under and in contact with the pin 12, while its other end is connected to the lever 22 at 220. The cable 25 has one end connected to the digger stick adjacent the scoop at 250 and passes over idler pulleys 26 and 2'7 mounted on the shafts l9 17 respectively, the end of the cable being then connected to the lever 22 at approximately the same point at which the end of the cable 24 is With such a construction, it will be observed that in elevated positions of the scoop, for instance that shown in Figure 3 simple oscillation of the lever 22 will result in sliding of the digger stick alternately in opposite directions over the pin 12, under complete control of the operator to advance and retract said scoop while elevated. In the lowered position of the scoop, as shown in Figure l, movement of the lever 22 in one direction will urge said digger stick longitudinally downwardly to thrust the scoop 10 into the dirt pile or bank, whereas, movement of said lever in the opposite direction will swing the scoop end of said stick rearwardly to withdraw said scoop from the pile if so desired.

To compensate for pivotal movement of the digger stick and to maintain taut the flexible connection between the lever 22 and the digger stick, I have provided two yieldable members or tension springs 28 in the flexible connection. As shown, one spring 28 is connected between by the operator.

In operation of the toy, and assuming that the scoop 10 is resting on the ground as shown in Figure l, the operator will first pull the upper end of the lever 20 toward himself or away from the boom 4 which will cause the scoop to dig into the pile of dirt or bank and at the same time elevate the scoop. Simultaneously, the operator will push the lever 22 away from himself, which will crowd or longitudinally slide the scoop outwardly into the pile of dirt. After the scoop has been raised to the desired elevation it may be either advanced or retracted as previously described and, the dirt may be released or dumped from the scoop.

For releasing the dirt the scoop is provided with a trap door 29 pivotally connected at 30 to the body of the scoop and normally held closed by a bolt 32 which can be released by a pull upon a pull cord 33, as shown in Figure 3. The trap will close by action of gravity as the scoop is lowered to its initial position.

After the scoop has been emptied, the lever 20 is permitted to swing in the opposite direction under the influence of gravity on the digger stick and scoop so as to partially lower the scoop, and at the same time or thereafter, the lever 22 maybe swung toward the operator thus effecting a rearward pull on the digger stick 9 below the pin 12 to swing the lower end of said stick rearwardly. Since when it is partially lowered, said stick is suspended at its lower end from the pulley 13, by the cable 14:, movement of said stick under said pull will be directed longitudinally and upwardly by the pin 12 and cable 14 thus swinging the scoop upwardly and rearwardly to locate it close to the body of the toy and beneath the boom 4, which is its initial position. Obviously by moving the lever 22 away from the operator the digger stick 9 may be moved longitudinally downwardly to swing the scoop 9 forwardly and downwardly while in its partially lowered position. It will be observed that the lever and its flexible connection with the digger stick permits easy swinging of the lower end of the digger stick while the scoop is adjacent its lowermost position and supported by the cable 14 and lever 20, to locate the scoop in the desired position.

The construction and operation of the toy are extremely simple, but the undivided attention of the operator is necessary during operation due to the necessity for the use of both hands and proper coordination of the operation of the two levers. The toy is inexpensive and will withstand hard Usage; the action of the toy closely simulates the operation of a steam shovel which is usually controlled by two or more levers, and yet no complicated mechanism is involved.

While I have shown and described the invention embodied in certain details of construction it will be understood that this is primarily to illustrate the principles of the nvention and that many modifications and changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. A toy power shovel comprising a body portion, a boom projecting upwardly therefrom, a digger stick mounted intermediate its ends on said boom intermediate the ends of the latter for longitudinal and pivotal movement, a scoop on one end of the digger stick, a lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said body portion on an axis at right angles to the plane of movement of said digger stick, a pulley on said body portion at the side of the axis of said lever opposite said digger stick, means for causing pivotal movement of said digger stick to elevate and lower the scoop, and a cable connection between one end of said lever and both ends of said digger passing over said pulley for sliding longitudinally said digger stick in opposite directions upon oscillation of said lever when the scoop is in elevated position.

2. The toy power shovel set forth in claim 1 wherein said cable connection includes a tension spring to compensate for pivotal movement of the digger stick and maintain said cable connection taut.

3. A toy power shovel comprising a body portion, a boom projecting upwardly therefrom, a digger stick mounted intermediate its ends on said boom intermediate the ends of the latter for longitudinal and pivotal movement, a scoop on one end of the digger stick, a lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said body portion, a cable connected at one end to said lever and at the other end to the digger stick adjacent said scoop for causing pivotal movement of the digger stick to elevate and lower the scoop, a second lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said body portion on an axis at right angles to the plane of movement of said digger stick, a pulley on said body portion at the side of the axis of the lever opposite said digger stick, and a cable connection between one end of said second lever and both ends of said digger stick passing over said pulley for longitudinally sliding said digger stick in opposite directions upon oscillation of said lever when the scoop is in elevated position.

4, A toy power shovel comprising a body portion, a boom projecting upwardly therefrom, a digger stick mounted intermediate its ends on said boom intermediate the ends of the latter for longitudinal and pivotal movement, a scoop on one end of the digger stick, a lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said body portion on an axis at right angles to the plane of movement of said digger stick, a pulley mounted on an axis parallel with and at the side of the axis of said lever opposite said digger stick, a second pulley on said boom above said digger stick, a cable connected at one end to said lever and at the other end to the digger stick adjacent said scoop, said cable passing over the first and second named pulleys whereby oscillation of said lever will cause pivotal movement of said digger stick to elevate and lower the scoop, a second lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said body portion on an axis parallel with the axis of the lever first named, a third pulley on said body portion at the side of the axis of the second lever opposite said digger stick, and a cable connection between one end of said second lever and both ends of said digger stick passing over said pulley for longitudinally sliding said digger stick in opposite directions upon oscillation of said second lever when the scoop is in elevated position.

5. A toy power shovel comprising a cablike body portion having a slot in the top thereof, a boom projecting upwardly from one end of said body portion, a digger stick having a scoop at one end thereof, said digger stick being mounted on said boom for pivotal movement thereon to elevate and lower the scoop and also having longitudinal sliding movement, a lever pivotally mounted between its ends on said body portion and extending through said slot with one end in said body portion and the other end projecting above the top of said body portion, and an operative connection between both ends of said stick and the end of said lever within the cab for longitudinally sliding said stick in opposite directions upon oscillation of said lever when said scoop is elevated.

6. A toy power shovel comprising a body portion, a boom projecting upwardly therefrom, a digger stick having a scoop at one end thereof, said stick being mounted intermediate its ends on said boom intermediate the ends of the latter for pivotal movement to elevate and lower the scoop and also for longitudinal movement, means for causing pivotal movement of said digger stick to elevate and lower the scoop, a lever pivotally mounted on said body portion, and an operative connection between said lever and both ends of said digger stick for longitudinally sliding the latter in opposite directions upon oscillation of said lever when said scoop is elevated.

'7. A toy power shovel comprising a body, a boom projecting upwardly therefrom, a digger stick having a slot extending longitudinally thereof intermediate its ends, a scoop on the lower end of said digger stick, a pin on said boom passing through said slot to mount the digger stick on the boom for pivotal movement to elevate and lower the scoop and also for longitudinal sliding movement, means for causing pivotal movement of said digger stick, a lever on said body, a pulley on said body, and a cable connection between said 115 lever and both ends of said digger stick, said cable connection between the upper end of said digger stick and said lever passing under and in contact with said pin and the cable connection between said lever and the lower end of the digger 2 stick passing over said pulley whereby said digger stick will be slid longitudinally in opposite directions upon oscillation of said lever when the scoop is elevated.

8. The toy power shovel set forth in claim '7 with 125 the addition of a spring in said cable connection to maintain the cable taut and compensate for pivotal movement of the digger stick.

ROSCOE M. GAVER. 

